Archive for May, 2010

After 26 days traveling with my father in Nepal, we parted at the Delhi airport. I found myself choking back tears as I gave him a hug and we parted. Why was I, a person who typically travels solo, crying about being solo again? I wish I knew. I kind of chalk it up to being an overly emotional person. However I think it’s always hard when you get used to spending time with someone for a month and then they leave again and you are back on your own; no one to lean on but yourself. There’s a period of sadness that goes along with that.
Don’t get me wrong – I love solo travel for many, many reasons. However, it’s something that you have to adjust into and find your rhythm. Every time I strike out on my own I have to get used to it again.
I was headed to Sri Lanka, another new country to mark off my list! However, I wasn’t merely…

I do hope everyone who points approvingly to Anticnn and insists the US media are hopelessly biased against China gets to listen to this superb podcast over at Popup Chinese. It touches on many media-related issues, but the first few minutes are devoted to the bias issue.
These are really smart China hands talking, and they all agree that the notion among many Chinese (especially the fenqing) of purposeful media bias against China is seriously inflated.They generally agree there is some bias against China, but it occurs mainly over in the US editorial offices where the headlines and photo captions are written, and is not symptomatic of the foreign correspondents living in China.
They also acknowledge there is bias for the Dalai Lama, but not because the editors are anti-China, It’s because there is a strong, irrational bias in America towards Buddhists, just as there is often a strong media bias in favor of Israel, and an even stronger media bias against Arabs and Muslims. Thus, as they say in the podcast, the Tibetan monks get far more sympathy and attention than the Uighurs. But what the fenqing need to get is that this is generally…

This post comparing the daily lives of Chinese and American teens caught my eye and brought back a lot of memories. (It’s already a couple of weeks old; I just saw the link via Danwei.) American teens dream of “writing their own Aeneid,” and their teen years “are an endless drama: fights with parents over curfew, acne, not making the football team or cheerleading squad, break-ups, depression, anorexia, Waiting for Godot, anxiety, the prom.” Very different from their Chinese counterparts:

Boys and girls are not permitted to be near one meter of each other on school grounds, there’s a regulation haircut and school uniform, and there’s no mobile phone service and Internet access. All the students dress, look, act and think the same, and an administrator’s greatest pride is to see his 1000 students do calisthenics in synch on the soccer field. Walls and gates limit the movement of students, security cameras and the eyes of teachers track students, and if it were possible administrators would implant a signalling device on each student. If all this is still not enough to depress and stress out the Chinese teenager, then the head teacher and/or parent will now

I moved to Portland Oregon in 1978 and discovered a new world. Born and raised in West Virginia and deeply connected to the land and the culture, I’d come to such a dead-end in my personal and professional life, that the only way forward I could see was to make a drastic move in hopes of renewal. In Portland, it didn’t matter that I hadn’t been born in the West, wore funny suits and probably still had an accent, I was home. That’s a long story made short, for now.
My weekends were often spent climbing mountains or backpacking, but sometimes I made the rounds of the, then small number of wineries in the Yamhill and Willamette Valleys, learning about wine, and enjoying the camaraderie of a small but growing group of winemakers with big dreams. I admired that energy and optimism, enjoyed their company, and their brash new wines. Now the wineries number in the hundreds and are sometimes bigger and less personal than I remember. But there is new blood, a new generation…

The Santa Cruz Blues Festival is one of the Bay Area’s Memorial Day weekend traditions, and Saturday’s opening-day concert was a perfect introduction to the season, with a warm sun, cloudless sky, and happy dancing people stripping off winter clothes and starting on summer tans.
There were five performers on Saturday, including a group from New Orleans called Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk.
With a name like that you think of George Clinton and that’s in there, but it sounded more Sly and the Family Stone with an extra bass and a rock-n-roll drum kit, almost like a funk garage band. I even thought about Edgar Winter
a couple of times.
Two of the members are descendants of the Neville Brothers, with Ivan singing and talking from the keyboard like he was preaching from the choir, and Ian on lead guitar moving comfortably from funky counterpoint for the bass lines to guitar hero solos.
Ivan Neville Raymond Weber and Ian Neville
Drummer Raymond Weber played like the guy you want in charge of your Neighborhood Watch – substantial and secure without drawing attention to himself except when…

In case the last couple of pictures weren’t enough of a clue, we’ve headed north to Alaska for the week. Frank is chairing a technical conference in Anchorage, so we decided to make the trip a family affair. My parents are coming from Ohio, along with Frank’s stepmom, Chris from Indiana, and her sister Ruth and husband Ralph from Michigan. We traveled with Chris, Ruth, and Ralph on another adventure involving bears on our trip to Churchill, Manitoba, to see polar bears in 2002.
Frank had to leave early, so Alex and I caught an Alaska Air flight after school and work from San Francisco to Seattle, with a connection on to Anchorage. I give Alaska Air kudos for the friendliness of their flight crews. Plus, they are one of the few US airlines that allows families with small kids to board early.
Alex asked if he could meet the pilot, and they obliged, showing him the hundreds of buttons, lights, and knobs on the control panel prior to take-off. He found his way back to our seats and declared, “These pilots are the

So far I have been blown away by the 2010 stadiums that I have visited and I’ve seen a couple of attempts by various companies and groups to integrate the 360 degree view of stadiums online. John Gore at 360 South Africa is doing an incredible job and below is the first of about 5 stadiums and blog posts I’ll be doing with his content.
Load the video and check out the stadium from various views within the stadium, not just from the pitch. I’m impressed. Great work.
This Virtual Tour of Cape Town Stadium was created by John Gore of 360 South Africa.Similar Posts:

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Renee Blodgett is the founder and editor of We Blog the World, which was created in 2008. Renee has lived in ten countries and traveled to nearly 80, giving her a unique understanding and appreciation of international cultures. She is ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes and referenced in two renowned books on how social media is changing how we live our lives.

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